Calculating the CHAPTER

2
Federal Pell Grant
In this chapter, we’ll review the basic steps in calculating a Pell award. These steps, in effect,
adjust the Pell award to take into account the student’s cost of attendance (COA) for the
academic year, the student’s enrollment status, the ability to contribute to his or her education
(EFC), the amount of coursework taken in the award year, and the length of the student’s
enrollment during the academic year.

CHOOSING A FORMULA Choosing a Formula Cite

The regulations specify five different formulas for calculating Pell 34 CFR 690.63(a)
Grants; the formula the school uses depends on the type of program.
However, each formula has the same basic steps, which we’ll discuss in
this chapter. Once the school chooses a formula, the school must use
that same formula for all students in the same program of study for the
entire award year.

Credit-Hour Term-Based Programs

A school can use Formula 3 to calculate Pell Grants for any credit-
hour, term-based program, except for correspondence programs (see
“Correspondence Programs,” in this chapter). However, if the
program meets certain requirements, Formula 1 or 2 can be used
instead. If the program meets the requirements for more than one
formula, the school can choose which formula to use.

Criteria for Formula 1 or 2

To qualify for Formula 1 or 2, the program must:

• measure progress in credit hours;

• be offered in semesters, trimesters, or quarters (standard terms);

• use an academic calendar that includes two semesters or

trimesters (in the fall through the following spring) or three
quarters (in the fall, winter, and spring);

• not have overlapping terms;

• define full-time enrollment for each term in the award year as at

least 12 credit hours; and

• for Formula 1, provide at least 30 weeks of instructional time in

the fall through spring terms. If it doesn’t provide this minimum
amount of instructional time, Formula 2 would apply.

Note that in both cases the school may decide to use Formula 3.
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Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001
Combining Terms Example
In addition to programs using standard semesters, Hart University offers a separate
degree program in education with a short 4-week term between two 15-week terms. The
terms don’t overlap.

15 weeks 4 15 weeks
wks

15 weeks 19 weeks 34 weeks

Hart has defined the academic year for this program as 24 semester hours and 34 weeks
of instructional time. Hart could combine the short term with one of the standard terms
and calculate Pells using Formula 1 (assuming that full-time enrollment is at least 12
semester hours per term):

15 weeks 4 15 weeks
wks

Term 1 Term 2

Hart can also choose not to combine the terms. In this case, the program would have a
nonstandard term (the 4-week term) and therefore wouldn’t qualify for Formula 1. Hart
would then be required to use Formula 3 to calculate Pells for students in this program.

Combining terms
A school can combine terms to allow a program to qualify for
Formula 1 or 2. For example, a school with several summer terms
for which full-time enrollment is less than 12 credit hours can
combine these terms into a single term for which full-time
enrollment is 12 credit hours so that Pell Grants for students in
the program can be calculated under Formula 1. A school can also
combine a short term with a semester in order to have two
semesters as required for Formulas 1 and 2.

Calendar changes
Because the academic calendar for a program must fall within
specific limits for the school to be able to use Formula 1 or 2, if the
calendar for the program changes, the school needs to check
again to see if it can still use Formula 1 or 2 for the program.

Clock-Hour or Nonterm Programs

All clock-hour programs and nonterm credit-hour programs use
Formula 4, unless they’re correspondence programs.

Correspondence Programs
Formula 5 is used for students enrolled only in correspondence
courses (not including residential components of correspondence
programs). There are two versions of Formula 5; version A (which is
similar to Formula 4) is used for nonterm programs, and version B

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 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant
Calendar Change Example
Hart University decides to expand one of the programs it offers in standard semesters by
also offering the coursework in four terms, each consisting of eight weeks of
instructional time. Previously, Hart could calculate Pell Grants for students in the
program using Formula 1. Suppose Hart combines two terms of eight weeks of
instructional time with each semester, so the program still has two terms. The school
now must use Formula 3, because the terms overlap:

8 wks 8 wks 8 wks 8 wks

Term 1 Term 2
15 wks 15 wks

The school must use Formula 3 even for students enrolled only in the semesters, because
the program as a whole no longer qualifies for Formula 1. The school may instead
consider the program offered in 8-week terms to be a separate program, in which case it
can still calculate Pells for students enrolled in the semester program using Formula 1.
Hart would then calculate Pells for students enrolled in the four-term program using
Formula 3. However, if Hart allows a student to enroll in both types of terms, it must
have some way of determining which program the student is actually enrolled in.

(which is similar to Formula 3) is used for term-based programs. For a

residential component of a correspondence program, the school must
use either Formula 3 or Formula 4. If the residential component is a
term, the school uses Formula 3; otherwise, it uses Formula 4.

DETERMINING ENROLLMENT STATUS

The student’s enrollment status is based on the number of credit or
clock hours for which the student enrolls. It determines which cost
components are used to calculate the student’s Pell COA and, for
some programs, establishes which Payment or Disbursement Schedule
is used to determine the student’s annual award.

For credit-hour programs with terms, the school must determine

whether the student is enrolled full time, three-quarter time, half time,
or less than half time. This allows the school to determine which
Payment or Disbursement Schedule it needs to use, and to calculate
the correct COA. For clock-hour programs and for credit-hour
programs without terms, the school only needs to determine if the
student is enrolled at least half time or less than half time, so that it
can calculate the COA correctly.

Enrollment Status Standards

A school defines full-time enrollment, but the school’s definition Definition of Full-Time Enrollment
must meet the minimum regulatory requirements (see the SFA Cite
Handbook: Student Eligibility [Volume 1] for a general discussion of 34 CFR 668.2
enrollment status). Note that the school’s academic standard may
differ from the enrollment standard used by the financial aid office for
SFA purposes. For example, the school may define full time as six

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Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001

Enrollment Status Minimum Requirements

Standard Term, Credit-Hour Programs1
Full time 12 credit hours per term2
Three-quarter time 9 credit hours per term2
Half time 6 credit hours per term2
Less than half time Less than half the workload of the minimum full-time requirement

Clock-Hour Programs or Nonstandard-Term or Nonterm Credit-Hour Programs

Full time 24 semester hours, 24 trimester hours, or 36 quarter hours per academic
year, or prorated equivalent for program of less than an academic year
or 24 clock hours per week
Less than half time Less than half the workload of the minimum full-time requirement

1 For standard term-based programs, if a school’s financial aid office establishes full-time status as greater than 12 credit hours, the financial aid office may still define
a three-quarter-time enrollment status as 9 credit hours and a half-time enrollment status as 6 credit hours.
2 The school must use appropriate credit hours for the term, for example, semester hours for semesters, quarter hours for quarters.

hours during the summer; however, the financial aid office uses 12
hours as full time for all terms including the summer term. The school
must apply its standards consistently to all students enrolled in the
same program of study, for all SFA purposes.

Enrollment status for nonstandard terms

Enrollment Status for If a school’s academic calendar contains nonstandard terms, the
Nonstandard Terms Cite school must determine the student’s enrollment status for each
34 CFR 690.63(d)(1)(ii) nonstandard term according to the formula in the regulations. To
determine enrollment status for a nonstandard term, the school must
first determine the number of credit hours required for full-time
enrollment status using the following formula:
Fractions
When using fractions, be careful to weeks of instructional time in
multiply first, and then divide to avoid an nonstandard term
Credit hours in
incorrect result. For example, to calculate X
academic year weeks of instructional time in program’s
the following:
definition of academic year
300
2,130 X
900 If the resulting number isn’t a whole number, it’s rounded up to
you should use this method: the next whole number. After the school has determined the number
of credit hours required for full-time enrollment, the school can then
Step 1: 2,130 X 300 = 639,000 determine the less-than-full-time status for the nonstandard term using
Step 2: 639,000 ÷ 900 = 710 the following formula:

In this case, if you divide the fraction to get Credit hours student takes in the nonstandard term
a decimal (300/900 =.333333...) and Credit hours required for full-time enrollment in the nonstandard term
then round the decimal either down (.33)
or up (.34), your calculation will result in
The resulting fraction is then matched with the appropriate less-
a number that’s too low (703) or too high
(724).
than-full-time status classification. The fraction must equal or exceed
the enrollment status classification. For example, two-thirds would
correspond to a half-time enrollment status.

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 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant
Nonstandard Term Examples
Anner enrolls in a two year program at Bylsma Conservatory. Bylsma Conservatory’s
academic calendar consists of four terms, each of which provides 8 weeks of instructional
time. The school has defined the academic year for Anner’s program as 40 quarter hours
and 32 weeks of instructional time. Anner enrolls for 6 quarter hours in the first term
and 10 quarter hours in the remaining three terms.

Bylsma determines the number of credit hours required for full-time enrollment in the
term as follows:
8 weeks instructional time in term
40 quarter hours X = 10 quarter hours
32 weeks instructional time in academic year

Therefore, a student must complete 10 quarter hours each term to be a full-time student.
For the first term, Bylsma must determine Anner’s enrollment status as follows:

6 quarter hours ÷10 quarter hours = .6

Because .6 is less than three-quarters (.75) but more than one-half (.5), Anner’s
enrollment status in the first term is half time. Anner is enrolled full time (10 hours) in
the remaining terms.

Owen enrolls in the education program at Hart University that has a short 4-week term
between two 15-week terms. Hart doesn’t combine the 4-week term with one of the longer
terms for purposes of the Pell calculation. The academic year for the program is 34 weeks
of instructional time and 24 semester hours. Owen enrolls for 6 hours in the first and
third terms and 3 hours in the second term.

Hart must determine the number of credit hours required for full-time enrollment in the
first and third term as follows:
15 weeks instructional time in term
24 semester hours X = 10.58
34 weeks instructional time in academic year

A student must enroll in 11 semester hours (rounded up from 10.58) in the first and
third terms to be full-time. The requirement for full-time enrollment for the second term is
determined as follows:
4 weeks instructional time in term
24 semester hours X = 2.82
34 weeks instructional time in academic year

A student must enroll in 3 semester hours (rounded up from 2.82) in the second term to
be full-time.

Note that Owen is enrolled full-time in the second term. To determine Owen’s enrollment
status for the other two terms, the school must compare the number of hours he’s enrolled
with the number required for full-time enrollment:

6 semester hours ÷ 11 semester hours = .54

Because .54 is less than three-quarters (.75) and greater than one-half (.5), Owen is
enrolled half time in the first and third terms.

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Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001
Combined Term Example
Eddy enrolls in a program that Hart University offers in both 15-week semesters and 8-
week terms. Hart combined two 8-week terms to make each semester; each of the
combined terms provides 16 weeks of instructional time:

8 wks 8 wks 8 wks 8 wks

Term 1 Term 2
15 wks 15 wks

Hart continues to define the academic year for Eddy’s program as 24 semester hours and
30 weeks of instructional time, as it did before adding the 8-week terms. In addition,
because the combined terms can still be considered semesters, the requirement for full-time
enrollment in each term is 12 semester hours.

In the first term, Eddy enrolls for 4 semester hours in the 15-week component of the term
and 3 semester hours in each of the 8-week components. Therefore, he’s enrolled for a
total of 10 semester hours in the first term, and his enrollment status is three-quarter
time. In the second term, he enrolls for 12 semester hours in the 15-week component, and
no hours in either of the 8-week components. Because he’s enrolled for 12 semester hours
total in this second term, his enrollment status for the second term is full time.

Combined Terms
If the school combines two or more terms into a single term for
purposes of the Pell calculation, the student’s enrollment status is
based on the combined number of hours the student is enrolled in for
all the component terms of the combined term. Note that if the
student later doesn’t begin attendance in one of the parts of the
combined term, the school must recalculate the student’s award (see
Chapter 5 for more on recalculations).

Special Programs
There are additional considerations in determining enrollment
status for some special programs, such as correspondence programs.

Correspondence study
Students enrolled in programs of correspondence study are
Half-time Enrollment Limit Cite
considered to be no more than half-time students, even if they’re
34 CFR 690.2
enrolled in enough coursework to be full time. However, if the
correspondence study is combined with regular coursework, the
student’s enrollment status might be more than half time.

A student enrolled only in a nonterm correspondence program is

Enrollment Status for Term
always enrolled half time. For a student enrolled in a term
Correspondence Cite
34 CFR 690.66(c)(2)
correspondence program, the school must determine whether the
student is enrolled half time (6 or more credit hours in a term) or less
than half time (less than 6 credit hours in a term). Special rules are
used to determine the student’s enrollment status when the student is
enrolled in a combination of regular and correspondence coursework.

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 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant

Enrollment Status for Enrollment in Correspondence and Regular Coursework

Regular Work Correspondence Work Adjusted Total Course Load Enrollment Status
3 3 6 Half time
3 6 6 Half time
3 9 6 Half time
6 3 9 Three-quarter time
6 6 12 Full time
2 6 6 Half time

This chart assumes that the school defines full-time enrollment as 12 credits per term, making half-time enrollment 6
credits per term. As you can see in the second and third examples, the number of correspondence hours counted in the
total course load were adjusted so that the correspondence hours never exceed the regular hours taken. Note that in the
last example, the student is eligible for payment based on half-time enrollment in correspondence courses, despite the fact
that the student only took 2 hours of regular coursework.

Correspondence study combined with regular study Correspondence Study Combined

If correspondence coursework is combined with regular With Regular Study Cite
coursework, the correspondence courses must meet the following 34 CFR 690.8(b)
criteria to be included in the student’s enrollment status:

• The courses must apply toward the student’s degree or certifi-

Consortium Different Units
cate or must be remedial work to help the student in his or Example
her course of study. Chris is taking 6 semester hours at Hart
University, the home institution, and 9
• The courses must be completed during the period required quarter hours at Sarven Technical
for the student’s regular coursework. Institute. To determine his enrollment
status, Hart needs to convert the hours at
When combining the number of credit hours of Sarven into semester hours. Because a
correspondence work with the number of credit hours of regular quarter hour is about two-thirds of a
coursework to determine the student’s enrollment status for a Pell semester hour, Hart multiplies the number
Grant, the amount of correspondence work counted can’t be of quarter hours by two-thirds:
more than the number of credit hours of regular coursework the
9 quarter hours X 2/3 = 6 semester hours
student is enrolled in. However, if the student is taking at least a
half-time load of correspondence courses, the student would be Then, the hours taken at both schools can
paid as at least a half-time student, regardless of the credit hours of be added together:
regular coursework.
6 semester hrs. at Hart
A student will be paid as a less-than-half-time student for any + 6 semester hrs. at Sarven
combination of regular and correspondence work that’s less than 6 12 semester hours
credit hours.
Linda is also taking 6 semester hours at
Enrollment status under consortium agreement Hart University and 9 quarter hours at
The enrollment status of a student attending more than one Sarven Technical Institute, but her home
school under a consortium agreement is based on all the courses taken institution is Sarven Technical Institute.
Because Sarven is paying her, it needs to
that apply to the degree or certificate at the home institution. The
convert the semester hours taken at Hart
disbursing school may have to make some adjustments if the into quarter hours:
coursework at the different schools is measured in different units. (See
sidebar example.) 6 semester hours X 3/2 = 9 quarter hours

Enrollment status for cooperative education Then, the hours taken at both schools can
In a cooperative education program, the school assesses the work be added together:
to be performed by the student and determines the equivalent
academic course load. The student’s enrollment status is based on the 9 quarter hrs. at Sarven
equivalent academic course load. +9 quarter hrs. at Hart
18 quarter hours
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Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001

Step 1: Determine Enrollment Status

Formula 1, 2, and 3
Full time, three-quarter time, half time, less than half time
Formula 4
At least half time or less than half time
Formula 5A
Enrollment status is never more than half time
Formula 5B
Enrollment status can only be half time or less than half time

Remedial coursework
A noncredit remedial course is one for which the school allows no
credit toward a degree or certificate. A reduced-credit course is one for
which the school gives some credit toward the degree or certificate,
but not as much as would normally be given based on the workload
required by the course. When figuring enrollment status, the school
must include any reduced-credit or noncredit remedial coursework
designed to increase the student’s ability to pursue his or her program
of study. The SFA Handbook: Student Eligibility (Volume 1) explains how
to include these courses in enrollment status, as well as the limits on
COA Proration Required Examples the amount of remedial coursework that can be included.
Woodhouse College provides 28 weeks of
instruction in its two semesters. The COA Enrollment Status Change During Year
it uses for most SFA programs is based on If a student’s enrollment status changes during the year, the school
the costs for those 28 weeks. However, the may have to recalculate the student’s Pell payment based on the new
academic year has 30 weeks of instruction. enrollment status. Chapter 5 of this publication explains when a school
Because the costs are for less than an is required to recalculate due to a change in enrollment status.
academic year, Woodhouse needs to prorate
the amount up to get the Pell COA.
CALCULATING THE COST OF ATTENDANCE
Sarven Technical Institute has a 1000 The components used to calculate a student’s Pell COA are the same
clock hour program, but the academic year
as those used to calculate the COA for the other SFA Programs. (See
for the program only has 900 clock hours.
The COA it uses for most SFA programs is
the SFA Handbook: Student Eligibility [Volume 1] for a list of these
based on the costs for the entire 1000 clock components.) However, unlike the other programs, the Pell COA is
hours. Because the costs are for more than always based on costs for a full-time student for a full academic year
.
an academic year, Sarven needs to prorate For Pell, costs for programs or enrollment periods longer or shorter
the amount down to get the Pell COA. than an academic year must be prorated so that they are for one full
academic year.5 This is true for both parts of the academic year
definition, the number of weeks and the number of clock/credit
Less than Half Time COA hours: If the program or period of enrollment differs from the defined
Components academic year in either part, the costs must be prorated to determine
For students who are less than half time, the Pell COA.
COA can include only:
Less than Half Time
• tuition and fees;
If the student is enrolled less-than-half time, the school can include
• an allowance for books and supplies;
• transportation (but not miscellaneous
in the Pell COA only those cost components allowable for less-than-
expenses); and half-time enrollment. (See the SFA Handbook: Student Eligibility [Volume
• an allowance for dependent care 1] for more information, and for other restrictions on COA
expenses. components.) However, the amount included in each of the allowable

5. Note that in many cases prorating the COA won’t affect the amount of Pell the student receives. However, the school must enter accurate amounts when reporting disburse-
ments (see Chapter 3 of this publication).

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 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant

cost components is based on the amount for a full-time student for a

full year.

Actual or Average Costs

While schools can choose to determine actual costs for individual
students, most schools prefer to determine the COA by using an
average cost for a group of similar students. (For example, a school
may have different charges for different academic programs or
different charges for in-state vs. out-of-state students.) Chapter 10 of
the SFA Handbook: Student Eligibility (Volume 1) has a brief discussion
about using average costs.

A school using actual charges has to be careful that the COA is still
for a full-timestudent. If costs for a part-time student are different
from those for a full-time student, the school can prorate the part-time
student’s actual costs to determine the full-time, full-year COA.

Consortium COA
A student receiving a Pell for attendance at two schools through a
Proration of Average Tuition and
consortium agreement may have costs from both schools at the same Fees Example
time. The student’s COA is calculated in the same way as for a student Isabella is enrolled for 3 semester hours at
taking classes at only one school. The student’s tuition and fees and Hart University and for 9 semester hours
books and supplies charges at the consortium schools have to be at Woodhouse College. The full-time tuition
combined into a single charge for a full academic year for purposes of and fee charge for an academic year at
the Pell calculation. The school paying the student can choose to use Hart is $4,000, while the full-time charge
actual charges for the student, which would simply be the sum of the at Woodhouse is $6,600. To figure
actual charges at both schools. Of course, if the student isn’t attending Isabella’s tuition and fees charge,
full time, the school will have to adjust these actual tuition and fees Woodhouse multiplies each of these average
and books and supplies charges so that they’re amounts for a full-time charges by the number of credits she’s
student. taking at each school, divided by the total
number of credits she’s taking:
Prorating average charges at each school $4,000 X
3
= $1,000 Prorated
If the disbursing school is using average charges, then the average 12
charge at Hart
full-time charges at each of the schools must be prorated and
combined. If the student is taking an equal course load at each school, 9
$6,600 X = $4,950 Prorated
12
the full-time tuition and fees charges for an academic year at each charge at Woodhouse
school can be averaged to determine the tuition and fee cost. However,
if the student is taking an unequal course load, the disbursing school Woodhouse then adds the two prorated
must prorate the charges based on the number of hours the student is charges to determine the tuition and fees
taking at each school. charge to include in Isabella’s COA:

Costs for a Cooperative Education Program $1,000 + $4,950 = $5,950

If a student has a co-op job for the first term, the tuition and fees
for that period can be projected over a full academic year (of at least
30 weeks). This projected amount is then added to the other COA Co-op COA Example
Kerr has a co-op job for the first quarter of
components to arrive at the total cost for a full-time student for a full
the academic year and pays a $50 fee and
year. no tuition. The $50 fee can be projected for
each of the three quarters in the academic
For the rest of the year, the school can either use the COA with the year for a total tuition and fees amount of
projected amount or can recalculate the student’s tuition and fees at $150.
the end of the first term to determine a new COA for the remaining
payment periods. This decision must be consistent with the school’s
overall policy on recalculating for changes in a student’s costs. (See

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Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001

Chapter 5 of this volume for more information.) Note that the COA
can also include employment-related expenses (see the SFA Handbook:
Student Eligibility [Volume 1]).

Tuition and Fees Charges for WIA Programs

Students in some WIA programs (formerly JTPA programs) aren’t
charged for tuition and fees. A school can include a tuition and fees
charge in the COA for a Pell recipient only if that charge is actually
made to the student and is paid either by the student or by some type
of student financial assistance (such as WIA). The existence of such a
tuition and fees charge must be documented in the same way as for
any non-WIA student—for instance, in the school’s contract with the
student or in the agreement with the WIA agency. (If the school
charges the student for tuition and fees, the school would have to
expect the student to pay the charge if the WIA agency or other source
of assistance doesn’t pay on the student’s behalf.)

If the school doesn’t actually charge the student for tuition and
fees (either because it’s prohibited from doing so under the WIA
contract, or for other reasons), then no tuition and fees component
would exist for the Pell COA. Even if there’s no tuition and fees
component, the student’s COA still includes the other components
described in the SFA Handbook: Student Eligibility (Volume 1). Note that a
school that doesn’t include tuition and fees in the COA may need to
use the Alternate Schedule in determining the student’s annual award
(see “Tuition Sensitivity and the Alternate Schedule,” in this chapter).

WIA reimbursement contracts

Some WIA contracts operate on a reimbursement basis; that is, the
student must fulfill the terms of the contract before WIA will
reimburse the school for tuition and fee costs. If the student doesn’t
fulfill the terms of the contract, the school is left with an unpaid
tuition and fees charge. The school isn’t permitted to hold the student
liable for the unpaid tuition and fees. Contracts are established this
way to offer schools an incentive to properly train and place students
enrolled in the training programs. However, as noted above, if a
tuition and fees charge is included in a Pell recipient’s COA, the
student would be liable for any outstanding charges that are not
reimbursed by WIA. Therefore, schools that enter into
reimbursement contracts must remove the tuition and fees component
from the Pell COA because, under these contracts, schools are
prohibited from holding the student liable for outstanding charges.

Prorating the COA

Schools can choose between two proration methods. A school can
either prorate the entire cost using one fraction, or split the COA into
credit/clock hour costs and week costs, and prorate the two types of
costs separately. A school can use whichever method it prefers.

Single fraction method

To prorate the COA by one fraction, the school must compare two
fractions and multiply the COA by the lesser of the two. There’s one
fraction for each component of the academic year definition. One

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 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant
COA Proration Examples
Woodhouse College has fall and spring semesters, each of which provides 14 weeks of
instructional time. Thus, the two semesters provide 28 weeks of instructional time.
Woodhouse has defined the academic year as 24 semester hours and 30 weeks of
instructional time. The average cost for a full-time student attending both semesters is
$13,210.

Because the two semesters don’t provide a full 30 weeks of instructional time, the cost for
a full-time student to attend both semesters must be prorated to determine a full academic
year COA.

Woodhouse compares the two fractions:

24 semester hours in academic year definition

24 semester hours in fall through spring terms

30 weeks instructional time in academic year definition

28 weeks instructional time in fall through spring terms

Because the credit hour fraction (24/24) is the lesser of the two, it would be used to
prorate the cost; since it’s equal to 1 the Pell COA for the program is the same as the non-
prorated COA: $13,210.

Sarven Technical Institute has a program that provides 40 weeks of instruction, during
which the student completes 1000 clock hours. Sarven has defined the academic year for
the program as 900 clock hours and 30 weeks of instructional time. The average cost for
the entire program is $5,900.

Because this cost is for more than an academic year, Sarven must determine the cost for
an academic year by prorating the full cost. The school compares the two fractions:

900 clock hours in academic year

1000 clock hours in program

30 weeks instructional time in academic year

40 weeks instructional time in program

Of the two fractions, the smaller is the weeks fraction (30/40). Sarven multiplies the full
cost by this fraction:

30 weeks instructional time in academic year

$5,900 X =$4,425.
40 weeks instructional time in program

Therefore, the Pell COA for this program is $4,425.

fraction is calculated by dividing the number of credit or clock hours Fractions

in the program’s academic year by the hours for which the costs apply; Remember when using fractions, multiply
the other by dividing the number of weeks in the program’s academic first, and then divide. Dividing the
fraction first to produce a decimal can
year by the weeks for which the costs apply:
cause an error if you need to round the
decimal up or down.
Credit/clock hours in program’s definition of academic year
Credit/clock hours to which costs apply

Weeks of instructional time in program’s definition of academic year

Weeks of instructional time to which costs apply

The COA is multiplied by the lesser of these two fractions to

determine the student’s Pell COA. This Pell COA must be used when

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Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001
Less-Than-Half-Time Student COA Proration Example
Martha is enrolled as a less-than-half-time student in a 650 clock hour, 28 week
program at Sarven Technical Institute. Sarven defines the academic year for the program
as 900 clock hours and 30 weeks of instructional time. The average costs for the entire
program are as follows:

Tuition and Fees $1,800

Room and Board 2,500
Books and Supplies 100
Transportation 100
Miscellaneous Expenses 200
TOTAL $4,700

Because the program is shorter than an academic year in length, the costs for the
program must be prorated to determine the costs for an academic year. Also, because
Martha is attending less than half time, the COA can’t include all components. The
cost using only the components allowed for a less-than-half-time student (tuition and
fees, books and supplies, and transportation) is $2,000. Sarven compares the two
fractions:

900 clock hours in academic year

650 clock hours in program

30 weeks instructional time in academic year

28 weeks instructional time in program

Of the two fractions, the smaller is 30/28.

Sarven multiplies the full cost (using only the components allowed for a less-than-half-
time student) by this fraction:
30 weeks instructional time in academic year
$2,000 X = $2,143
28 weeks instructional time in program

Therefore, Martha’s Pell COA is $2,143.

determining the amount of the student’s annual award. In some cases

the prorated COA calculated by this method will be the same as the
original, nonprorated COA: If for one of the components of the
academic year the program or period of enrollment for which costs
apply is the same as the academic year, one of the fractions will be
equal to one.

Split proration method

As mentioned earlier, the school can split the COA into two parts
and prorate the two parts separately, if it chooses. The school
multiplies costs associated with credit or clock hours (tuition and fees,
books and supplies, loan fees) by the credit or clock hour fraction
(hours in the academic year divided by hours for which costs apply),
and multiplies costs associated with weeks of instructional time (room
and board, miscellaneous expenses, disability expenses, transportation,
dependent care, study abroad, reasonable costs associated with
employment as part of a cooperative education program) by the week
fraction (weeks in the academic year divided by weeks for which costs
apply). The student’s Pell COA is the sum of the two types of prorated
costs.

3–28
 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant

Step 2: Calculate Pell COA

Formula 1
Full time, full academic year costs
Formula 2
Full time, full academic year costs
Cost for fall through spring terms prorated. If fall through spring terms
provide the same number of credit hours as are in the academic year
definition, prorated COA is the same as nonprorated COA.
Formulas 3 and 4
Full time, full academic year costs
Cost for program or enrollment period not equal to academic year prorated.
Two fractions compared:
Hours in program’s definition of academic year
Hours to which the costs apply
Weeks of instructional time in program’s definition of academic year
Weeks of instructional time in the enrollment period to which
the costs apply
The entire cost is multiplied by the lesser of the two fractions to determine
Pell COA.
Formulas 5A and 5B
Full time, full academic year costs (for applicable components)
Cost for program or enrollment period not equal to academic year prorated
according to the following formula:
For tuition and fees:

Costs Credit hours in program’s definition of academic year

X
Credit hours to which the costs apply

Correspondence Programs
The COA for correspondence study, when the student is not taking
any residential component for a payment period, includes only tuition
and fees. As always, the COA must be based on the costs for a full-time
student for a full academic year. If the student’s program or period of
enrollment, as measured in credit hours, is longer or shorter than an
academic year as measured in credit hours, the tuition and fees for the
program or enrollment period must be prorated. Because the
correspondence study COA for the non-residential component only
includes costs associated with credit hours, the school always uses the
credit hour-related fraction to prorate the COA as follows (because
there are no costs associated with weeks of instructional time in the
correspondence COA, the school has to prorate the cost only if the
number of hours in the program is shorter or longer than in an
academic year):

Credit hours in program’s definition of an academic year

Credit hours to which the costs apply

The resulting amount is the full-time, full-academic-year cost used

for calculating Pell Grant eligibility.

When there is a residential portion in a correspondence student’s

program, Formula 3 or 4 (whichever applies) is used to calculate the
student’s payment for a payment period for a residential portion.

3–29
Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001

Step 3: Determine Annual Award

Formula 1, 2, and 3
If the student’s enrollment status is full-time, the annual award is taken from the
full-time Payment Schedule (Scheduled Award). If the student’s enrollment status
is 3/4-time, 1/2-time, or less than 1/2-time, the annual award is taken from the
appropriate part-time Disbursement Schedule.
Formula 4
Always taken from full-time Payment Schedule (equal to Scheduled Award)
Formula 5A
Always taken from half-time Disbursement Schedule
Formula 5B
The annual award is taken from the appropriate part-time Disbursement Schedule
(half time or less than half time)

Refer to Formula 3 or 4 guidelines, including COA determinations, for

this circumstance. If a correspondence student has one or more
payment periods in an award year that contain only correspondence
study and one or more payment periods in the same award year that
contain a residential portion, the school would use two different
formulas for determining a student’s payment for each payment
period. This instance is the only one in which a school would use two
different Pell formulas within the same award year for students in the
same program.

DETERMINING THE ANNUAL AWARD

Once the school has figured the student’s COA, it can use the Payment
Schedule or appropriate part-time Disbursement Schedule to look up
the student’s annual award. The annual award is the maximum
Tuition Sensitivity Cite
amount a student would receive during a full academic year for a given
Sec. 401(b)(3), “Dear Colleague” Letter
P-99-9
enrollment status, EFC, and COA. For students in credit-hour, term-
based programs, the school looks up the annual award on the full-time
Payment Schedule, or the three-quarter-time, half-time, or less-than-
half-time Disbursement Schedule, depending on the student’s
Students who Require Alternate enrollment status. For students enrolled in clock-hour or nonterm
Schedule credit-hour programs, the annual award is always determined from the
• EFC is 300 or less
full-time Payment Schedule, even if the student is attending less than
• COA is $3,000 or higher
• tuition plus dependent care or disability
half time.
expenses is less than $300
Schools don’t have the discretion to refuse to pay an eligible part-
time student.
Alternate Schedule Example Tuition Sensitivity and the Alternate Schedule
Kerr’s tuition charge for the year is $150,
The law provides for a part of the student’s Pell award to be tuition
and he has no dependent care or disability
expenses. His EFC is 0, and his COA is
sensitive. The Higher Education Amendment of 1998 modified this
$4,000. Therefore, Sarven Technical provision as of the 1999-2000 award year, to only apply to the amount
Institute needs to use the Alternate of the award above $2,700 (an increase from $2,400). Reauthorization
Schedule to determine Kerr’s annual also added dependent care or disability-related expenses to tuition to
award. He’s enrolled full time; the be used in determining the tuition sensitive portion of the award. In
Alternate Schedule for full-time students addition, the law now specifically provides that schools that charged
shows that his annual award is $3,225. only fees in lieu of tuition as of October 1, 1998, can count those fees
as tuition for this calculation.

3–30
 Federal Pell Grant Program
Full Time Full-Time Scheduled Awards in the 2000-2001 Award Period
December 1999
Expected Family Contribution
0 1 101 201 301 401 501 601 701 801 901 1001 1101 1201 1301 1401 1501 1601 1701 1801 1901 2001 2101 2201 2301 2401 2501 2601 2701 2801 2901 3001 3101
Cost of To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To
Attendance 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 2600 2700 2800 2900 3000 3100 9999
0 - 199 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
200 - 299 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
300 - 399 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
400 - 499 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
500 - 599 550 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
600 - 699 650 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
700 - 799 750 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Payment and Disbursement Schedules

800 - 899 850 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
900 - 999 950 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1000 - 1099 1050 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1100 - 1199 1150 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1200 - 1299 1250 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1300 - 1399 1350 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1400 - 1499 1450 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1500 - 1599 1550 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1600 - 1699 1650 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1700 - 1799 1750 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1800 - 1899 1850 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1900 - 1999 1950 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2000 - 2099 2050 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2100 - 2199 2150 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2200 - 2299 2250 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2300 - 2399 2350 2300 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2400 - 2499 2450 2400 2300 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2500 - 2599 2550 2500 2400 2300 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2600 - 2699 2650 2600 2500 2400 2300 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2700 - 2799 2750 2700 2600 2500 2400 2300 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0
2800 - 2899 2850 2800 2700 2600 2500 2400 2300 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0
2900 - 2999 2950 2900 2800 2700 2600 2500 2400 2300 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0 0
3000 - 3099 3050 3000 2900 2800 2700 2600 2500 2400 2300 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0 0
3100 - 3199 3150 3100 3000 2900 2800 2700 2600 2500 2400 2300 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0 0
3200 - 3299 3250 3200 3100 3000 2900 2800 2700 2600 2500 2400 2300 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 400 400 0
3300 - 99999 3300 3250 3150 3050 2950 2850 2750 2650 2550 2450 2350 2250 2150 2050 1950 1850 1750 1650 1550 1450 1350 1250 1150 1050 950 850 750 650 550 450 400 400 0
! Important: schools with tuitions and fees lower than $300 must use the alternate schedule for students in the cells outlined above.
Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant

3–31
3–32
Federal Pell Grant Program
Regular Disbursement Schedule for Determining
3/4 Time Three-Quarter-Time Annual Awards in the 2000-2001 Award Period
December 1999
Expected Family Contribution
0 1 101 201 301 401 501 601 701 801 901 1001 1101 1201 1301 1401 1501 1601 1701 1801 1901 2001 2101 2201 2301 2401 2501 2601 2701 2801 2901 3001 3101
Cost of To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To
Attendance 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 2600 2700 2800 2900 3000 3100 9999
0 - 199 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
200 - 299 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
300 - 399 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001

400 - 499 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

500 - 599 413 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
600 - 699 488 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
700 - 799 563 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
800 - 899 638 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
900 - 999 713 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1000 - 1099 788 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1100 - 1199 863 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1200 - 1299 938 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1300 - 1399 1013 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1400 - 1499 1088 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1500 - 1599 1163 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1600 - 1699 1238 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1700 - 1799 1313 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1800 - 1899 1388 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1900 - 1999 1463 1425 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2000 - 2099 1538 1500 1425 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2100 - 2199 1613 1575 1500 1425 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2200 - 2299 1688 1650 1575 1500 1425 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2300 - 2399 1763 1725 1650 1575 1500 1425 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2400 - 2499 1838 1800 1725 1650 1575 1500 1425 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2500 - 2599 1913 1875 1800 1725 1650 1575 1500 1425 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2600 - 2699 1988 1950 1875 1800 1725 1650 1575 1500 1425 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2700 - 2799 2063 2025 1950 1875 1800 1725 1650 1575 1500 1425 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2800 - 2899 2138 2100 2025 1950 1875 1800 1725 1650 1575 1500 1425 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0
2900 - 2999 2213 2175 2100 2025 1950 1875 1800 1725 1650 1575 1500 1425 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0
3000 - 3099 2288 2250 2175 2100 2025 1950 1875 1800 1725 1650 1575 1500 1425 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0 0
3100 - 3199 2363 2325 2250 2175 2100 2025 1950 1875 1800 1725 1650 1575 1500 1425 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0 0
3200 - 3299 2438 2400 2325 2250 2175 2100 2025 1950 1875 1800 1725 1650 1575 1500 1425 1350 1275 1200 1125 1050 975 900 825 750 675 600 525 450 400 400 400 0 0
3300 - 99999 2475 2438 2363 2288 2213 2138 2063 1988 1913 1838 1763 1688 1613 1538 1463 1388 1313 1238 1163 1088 1013 938 863 788 713 638 563 488 413 400 400 0 0
! Important: schools with tuitions and fees lower than $300 must use the alternate schedule for students in the cells outlined above.
 Federal Pell Grant Program
Regular Disbursement Schedule for Determining
1/2 Time Half-Time Annual Awards in the 2000-2001 Award Period
December 1999
Expected Family Contribution
0 1 101 201 301 401 501 601 701 801 901 1001 1101 1201 1301 1401 1501 1601 1701 1801 1901 2001 2101 2201 2301 2401 2501 2601 2701 2801 2901 3001 3101
Cost of To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To
Attendance 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 2600 2700 2800 2900 3000 3100 9999
0 - 199 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
200 - 299 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
300 - 399 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
400 - 499 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
500 - 599 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
600 - 699 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
700 - 799 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
800 - 899 425 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
900 - 999 475 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1000 - 1099 525 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1100 - 1199 575 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1200 - 1299 625 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1300 - 1399 675 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1400 - 1499 725 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1500 - 1599 775 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1600 - 1699 825 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1700 - 1799 875 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1800 - 1899 925 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1900 - 1999 975 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2000 - 2099 1025 1000 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2100 - 2199 1075 1050 1000 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2200 - 2299 1125 1100 1050 1000 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2300 - 2399 1175 1150 1100 1050 1000 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2400 - 2499 1225 1200 1150 1100 1050 1000 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2500 - 2599 1275 1250 1200 1150 1100 1050 1000 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2600 - 2699 1325 1300 1250 1200 1150 1100 1050 1000 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2700 - 2799 1375 1350 1300 1250 1200 1150 1100 1050 1000 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2800 - 2899 1425 1400 1350 1300 1250 1200 1150 1100 1050 1000 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2900 - 2999 1475 1450 1400 1350 1300 1250 1200 1150 1100 1050 1000 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0
3000 - 3099 1525 1500 1450 1400 1350 1300 1250 1200 1150 1100 1050 1000 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0
3100 - 3199 1575 1550 1500 1450 1400 1350 1300 1250 1200 1150 1100 1050 1000 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0
3200 - 3299 1625 1600 1550 1500 1450 1400 1350 1300 1250 1200 1150 1100 1050 1000 950 900 850 800 750 700 650 600 550 500 450 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0
3300 - 99999 1650 1625 1575 1525 1475 1425 1375 1325 1275 1225 1175 1125 1075 1025 975 925 875 825 775 725 675 625 575 525 475 425 400 400 400 400 0 0 0

! Important: schools with tuitions and fees lower than $300 must use the alternate schedule for students in the cells outlined above.
Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant

3–33
3–34
Federal Pell Grant Program
Regular Disbursement Schedule for Determining
< 1/2 Time Less-Than-Half-Time Annual Awards in the 2000-2001 Award Period
December 1999
Expected Family Contribution
0 1 101 201 301 401 501 601 701 801 901 1001 1101 1201 1301 1401 1501 1601 1701 1801 1901 2001 2101 2201 2301 2401 2501 2601 2701 2801 2901 3001 3101
Cost of To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To To
Attendance 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 2600 2700 2800 2900 3000 3100 9999
0 - 199 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
200 - 299 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
300 - 399 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001

400 - 499 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
500 - 599 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
600 - 699 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
700 - 799 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
800 - 899 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
900 - 999 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1000 - 1099 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1100 - 1199 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1200 - 1299 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1300 - 1399 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1400 - 1499 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1500 - 1599 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1600 - 1699 413 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1700 - 1799 438 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1800 - 1899 463 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1900 - 1999 488 475 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2000 - 2099 513 500 475 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2100 - 2199 538 525 500 475 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2200 - 2299 563 550 525 500 475 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2300 - 2399 588 575 550 525 500 475 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2400 - 2499 613 600 575 550 525 500 475 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2500 - 2599 638 625 600 575 550 525 500 475 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2600 - 2699 663 650 625 600 575 550 525 500 475 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2700 - 2799 688 675 650 625 600 575 550 525 500 475 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2800 - 2899 713 700 675 650 625 600 575 550 525 500 475 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2900 - 2999 738 725 700 675 650 625 600 575 550 525 500 475 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3000 - 3099 763 750 725 700 675 650 625 600 575 550 525 500 475 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3100 - 3199 788 775 750 725 700 675 650 625 600 575 550 525 500 475 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3200 - 3299 813 800 775 750 725 700 675 650 625 600 575 550 525 500 475 450 425 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3300 - 99999 825 813 788 763 738 713 688 663 638 613 588 563 538 513 488 463 438 413 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

! Important: schools with tuitions and fees lower than $300 must use the alternate schedule for students in the cells outlined above.
 Alternate Federal Pell Grant Schedules for
Students with Low Assessed Tuition
2000-2001 Award Year
The following alternate schedules must be used to calculate Federal Pell Grant amounts in very specific situations involving students with low tuition
charges.Use the appropriate schedule below, based on the student's enrollment status, only if ALL the following are true; otherwise use the regular
payment and disbursement schedules:
• The student's tuition plus any dependent child care or disability related expenses is less than $300; AND
• The student's Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is 300 or less; AND
• The student's total cost of attendance is $3,000 or higher.

Important: When calculating the amount of tuition, schools that only charged fees in lieu of tuition as of October 1, 1998 may consider such
fees as tuition for purposes of these tables.
Full-Time 1 Half-Time
Tuition EFC Tuition EFC
plus Dependent 1 101 201 plus Dependent 1 101 201
Child Care and/or To To To Child Care and/or To To To
Cost of Disability Expenses, 0 100 200 300 Cost of Disability Expenses, 0 100 200 300
Attendance if any Pell Grant is: Attendance if any Pell Grant is:
0 3000 3000 2900 2800 0 1500 1500 1450 1400
3000 - 3099 1 - 149 3050 3000 2900 2800 3000 - 3099 1 - 149 1525 1500 1450 1400
150 - 299 3050 3000 2900 2800 150 - 299 1525 1500 1450 1400
300 or more 3050 3000 2900 2800 300 or more 1525 1500 1450 1400
0 3000 3000 3000 2900 0 1500 1500 1500 1450
3100 - 3199 1 - 149 3075 3075 3000 2900 3100 - 3199 1 - 149 1538 1538 1500 1450
150 - 299 3150 3100 3000 2900 150 - 299 1575 1550 1500 1450
300 or more 3150 3100 3000 2900 300 or more 1575 1550 1500 1450
0 3000 3000 3000 3000 0 1500 1500 1500 1500
3200 - 3299 1 - 149 3075 3075 3075 3000 3200 - 3299 1 - 149 1538 1538 1538 1500
150 - 299 3225 3200 3100 3000 150 - 299 1613 1600 1550 1500
300 or more 3250 3200 3100 3000 300 or more 1625 1600 1550 1500
0 3000 3000 3000 3000 0 1500 1500 1500 1500
3300 or more 1 - 149 3075 3075 3075 3050 3300 or more 1 - 149 1538 1538 1538 1525
150 - 299 3225 3225 3150 3050 150 - 299 1613 1613 1575 1525
300 or more 3300 3250 3150 3050 300 or more 1650 1625 1575 1525

Three-Quarter Time 1 Less Than Half-Time

Tuition EFC Tuition EFC
plus Dependent 1 101 201 plus Dependent 1 101 201
Child Care and/or To To To Child Care and/or To To To
Cost of Disability Expenses, 0 100 200 300 Cost of Disability Expenses, 0 100 200 300
Attendance if any Pell Grant is: Attendance if any Pell Grant is:
0 2250 2250 2175 2100 0 750 750 725 700
3000 - 3099 1 - 149 2288 2250 2175 2100 3000 - 3099 1 - 149 763 750 725 700
150 - 299 2288 2250 2175 2100 150 - 299 763 750 725 700
300 or more 2288 2250 2175 2100 300 or more 763 750 725 700
0 2250 2250 2250 2175 0 750 750 750 725
3100 - 3199 1 - 149 2306 2306 2250 2175 3100 - 3199 1 - 149 769 769 750 725
150 - 299 2363 2325 2250 2175 150 - 299 788 775 750 725
300 or more 2363 2325 2250 2175 300 or more 788 775 750 725
0 2250 2250 2250 2250 0 750 750 750 750
3200 - 3299 1 - 149 2306 2306 2306 2250 3200 - 3299 1 - 149 769 769 769 750
150 - 299 2419 2400 2325 2250 150 - 299 806 800 775 750
300 or more 2438 2400 2325 2250 300 or more 813 800 775 750
0 2250 2250 2250 2250 0 750 750 750 750
3300 or more 1 - 149 2306 2306 2306 2288 3300 or more 1 - 149 769 769 769 763
150 - 299 2419 2419 2363 2288 150 - 299 806 806 788 763
300 or more 2475 2438 2363 2288 300 or more 825 813 788 763
Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant

3–35
Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001
For the 2000-2001 award year, the tuition sensitivity rule affects a
small number of students. The Payment and Disbursement Schedules
show which groups of students are affected, and include an Alternate
Schedule for schools to use for these students.

Correspondence Programs
The annual award for a student in a nonterm correspondence
Correspondence Annual Award
program is always taken from the half-time Disbursement Schedule
Cite
34 CFR 690.66(a)(1), (c)(2)
because a correspondence student can’t receive more than half a
Scheduled Award. For a student in a term correspondence program,
the annual award is determined from the half-time Disbursement
Schedule or the less-than-half-time Disbursement Schedule, as
Nonterm or Clock-Hour Payment appropriate.
Period Cite
34 CFR 668.4(b)
DETERMINING THE PAYMENT PERIODS
The program’s academic year must be divided into payment periods.
Program Less Than AY Example Pell Grants must be paid in installments over the academic year to
Laurel is enrolled in a 600-clock-hour help meet the student’s cost in each payment period. The payment
program. The school defines the program’s period determines when Pell funds are disbursed and the exact
academic year as 900 clock hours and 30 amount to be disbursed.
weeks of instructional time. Because
Laurel’s program is shorter than an
academic year, the two payment periods
Credit-Hour Term Programs
would be based on the length of her For credit-hour term programs, the payment period is the term.
program (in clock hours). Each payment The payment period for a clock-hour term program isn’t a term.
period is one-half the program, or 300 clock Instead, clock-hour term programs are treated exactly like nonterm
hours. programs.

Nonterm or Clock-Hour Programs

1st pp 2nd pp For credit-hour nonterm programs and all clock-hour programs,
the school must define, in writing, the payment periods as measured in
clock or credit hours for each program. The regulations require at
0 300 600 900
end of least two equal payment periods for programs that are shorter than or
acad yr equal to an academic year or at least two equal payment periods in
each full academic year for programs longer than an academic year.

Program Equal to AY Example Less than an academic year

Eric is enrolled in a 900-clock-hour If the program of study is shorter than an academic year, each
program. The school defines the program’s payment period is half the credit or clock hours in the program.
academic year as 900 clock hours and 30
weeks of instructional time. Because Eric’s
Equal to an academic year
program is equal to an academic year, the
two payment periods are based on the
If the program of study is equal to an academic year, each payment
length of the academic year (in clock period is half the credit or clock hours in the academic year.
hours). Each payment period is half an
academic year, or 450 clock hours. Longer than an academic year
If the program of study is longer than an academic year, each
payment period in each full academic year is half the credit or clock
1st pp 2nd pp hours in the academic year. If the number of hours remaining in the
final year is less than half an academic year, the final payment period is
the period of time in which the student completes the remaining
0 450 900
end of hours. If the number of hours remaining in the final year is more than
acad yr half an academic year, each payment period in the final year is the
period in which the student completes half the remaining hours in the
program.
3–36
 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant
Program Longer than AY Examples
Marta is enrolled in a 1,200-clock-hour program. The school defines the program’s
academic year as 900 clock hours and 30 weeks of instructional time. Because Marta’s
program of study is longer than one academic year, the payment periods in the first year
are based on the length of the academic year (in clock hours). Each of these payment
periods is 450 clock hours (half the academic year). After the first year, only 300 clock
hours remain. Because 300 hours is less than half the academic year, the remaining 300
clock hours constitute the third and final payment period.

1st pp 2nd pp 3rd pp

0 450 900 1200

end of
1st AY

Fred is enrolled in a 1,600-clock-hour program. The school defines the program’s

academic year as 900 clock hours and 30 weeks of instructional time. Because Fred’s
program of study is longer than one academic year, the payment periods in the first year
are half the academic year in clock hours, 450 clock hours. After the first year, only 700
clock hours remain. Because 700 hours is more than half the academic year, Fred has
two payment periods in the final year. Each of the payment periods consists of one-half of
the remaining hours in the program, or 350 hours each.

1st pp 2nd pp 3rd pp 4th pp

0 450 900 1250 1600

end of
1st AY

Rounding
Previously, schools were required to round to the nearest dollar when making
disbursements. However, RFMS will now accept cents in payment amounts. Schools are
no longer required to round disbursements, but can if they choose. See Chapter 3 of
this volume for more on the RFMS reporting requirements. Note that RFMS has very
specific format requirements for payment amounts.

When rounding disbursements, round up if the decimal is .50 or higher; round down if
it’s less than .50. For instance, if a calculation resulted in a payment of $516.66,
round up to $517. If the calculation result was $516.33, round down to $516.

For a student who is expected to be enrolled for more than one payment period in the
award year, a school rounding disbursements would have to alternate rounding up and
rounding down to ensure that the student receives the correct amount for the year. For
example, if a student had a Scheduled Award of $1,025 to be paid in two payment
periods, the first payment would be $513 (rounded up from $512.50), and the second
payment would be $512 (rounded down to ensure that the student isn’t overpaid for the
year).

The same principle applies when there are three or more payment periods in the award
year. For instance, if the student has a Scheduled Award of $1,100 and enrolls at a
school using quarter terms, the payment for each term would come to $366.66. If the
school is rounding disbursements, the first two payments would be rounded up to $367,
and the last payment would be rounded down to $366 to reach the total of $1,100.

3–37
Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001
More Frequent Payment Periods Example
Sarven Technical Institute decides to have four payment periods for the 650-clock-hour
program Martha is enrolled in. Sarven can determine the number of clock hours in the
payment periods by dividing the number of hours in the program by the number of
payment periods:

650 ÷ 4 = 162.5

The first three payment periods will each be 163 clock hours. The last payment period
will have only 161 clock hours (the hours remaining in the program after the first three
payment periods).

1st pp 2nd pp 3rd pp 4th pp

0 163 326 489 650 900

end of
acad yr

Because Martha is enrolled for only 10 clock hours a week, her second payment period
won’t begin until after she’s in the 17th week (it will take her that long to complete 163
hours).

More Frequent Payment Periods More frequent payment periods

Cite A school can establish more frequent payment periods for its
34 CFR 668.4(b)(4) programs of study. For example, a school may choose to use monthly
payment periods. The payment periods must be equal in number of
credit or clock hours, except that a final payment period for a
program can be shorter than the other payment periods.

End of payment period

For clock-hour programs and nonterm credit-hour programs, the
payment period ends when the student has completed all the credit or
clock hours in the payment period. Because the length of a payment
period is based on credit or clock hours, part-time students will take
more calendar time than full-time students to complete each payment
period. However, as we’ll discuss in “Calculating the Payment for a
Payment Period,” the number of weeks of instructional time that is
used in the formula to calculate the payment for the payment period is
the same for full-time and part-time students.

Credits not awarded until later in program

Because the end of a payment period is based on when the
Credits not Awarded until End of
Program Cite student completes the hours in the payment period, there can be a
34 CFR 668.4(b)(3) problem if the credits aren’t awarded until some time after the
student completes the actual coursework. For example, a school
may award the student credits only after the student has completed
the entire program. In such cases, the school must still determine
the payment periods as usual, but can adjust the beginning of the
second payment period to account for the student being halfway
or further through the year or program without having earned half
the credits. The second payment period begins at the later of:

3–38
 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant
Credits at End of Program Example
Sarven Technical Institute doesn’t award credit to a student in the nonterm 24-quarter-
hour program Allen is enrolled in until the student completes the entire program.
Because the program is shorter than an academic year, it must have at least two equal
payment periods. Each payment period will be 12 quarter hours.

Because Allen won’t be awarded 12 quarter hours before he finishes the program, Sarven
adjusts the beginning of the second payment period. The program is 20 calendar weeks
in length; the calendar midpoint between the first and last day of enrollment is at the
beginning of the 11th calendar week. Sarven considers that Allen has completed half the
academic coursework (although he hasn’t been awarded any credit hours) by the end of
the 8th calendar week.

1st pp 2nd pp

Start 8 weeks 10 weeks 20 weeks

of half calendar end of program
program coursework midpoint
completed

Sarven may pay Allen for the second payment period at the beginning of the 11th
calendar week, because this is the later of the two points.

• the calendar midpoint between the first and last day of class Excused Absences Cite
or 34 CFR 668.164(b)(3)

• the point at which the school considers that the student has
completed half of the academic coursework for the year or Excused Absences Example
program. Ivers Community College has a written
policy (in accordance with its accrediting
Excused absences agency guidelines) that allows a student to
A school with a clock-hour program can take into miss up to 50 hours of a 900-clock-hour
consideration “excused absences” in determining whether a program. Brendan is enrolled in this
student has completed the hours in a payment period. The school program, and misses 20 of his first 450
hours. Because these are excused absences,
must have a written policy permitting excused absences, and the
Ivers can pay Brendan at the same time as
absences must actually be excused—that is, the student won’t be it would if he’d completed all the hours
required to make up the absences to receive the degree or when scheduled. Note that although the
certificate for the program. The school can’t allow the excused accrediting agency guidelines in this case
absences to exceed 10% of the clock hours in the payment period allow a student to miss up to 50 hours of
(or less as required by accrediting agency or state agency policies). the entire program, Ivers couldn’t excuse
more than 45 hours (10% of the hours) of
Terms with clock hours the payment period.
The payment periods for clock-hour term programs are
determined in the same way as for nonterm clock-hour programs. The
student must complete all the clock hours in the payment period
before receiving any more Pell funds. If a student doesn’t complete all
the hours scheduled for a term, each payment period still contains the
number of clock hours originally scheduled, even if this means that
none of the student’s succeeding payment periods coincide with the
terms.

3–39
Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001
Terms with Clock Hours Example
Eileen enrolls in a 1,350-clock-hour program at Ivers Community College. The program
is offered in three terms, each of which is 15 weeks of instructional time. The academic
year for this program is 900 clock hours and 30 weeks of instructional time. Each
payment period has 450 clock hours.

Term1 Term 2 Term 3

1st pp 2nd pp 3rd pp

0 450 900 1350

First year
Eileen enrolls for 450 clock hours in each term in the 1999-2000 award year. Eileen
completes only 400 clock hours in the first term. She won’t receive her second payment
until she completes the remaining 50 hours from the first term in the second term. The
second and third payment periods will still be 450 clock hours, and won’t line up with
the terms:

Term1 Term 2 Term 3

1st pp 2nd pp 3rd pp

0 450 900 1350

First year

Nonterm Correspondence Correspondence Programs

Payment Periods Cite Nonterm programs
34 CFR 690.66(b) For a nonterm correspondence program, there must be two equal
payment periods in each academic year. Each payment period is the
lesser of half the academic year or half the program (measured in
credit hours).

In addition, the school can’t disburse a Pell payment for the first
payment period until the student has completed 25% of the work in
the academic year or program, whichever is shorter. It can’t make the
second payment until the student has completed 75% of the work in
the academic year or program.

Term programs
Term Correspondence Payment For a term correspondence program, as for other term-based
Periods Cite programs, the payment period is the term. However, the school can’t
34 CFR 690.66(c)(4) disburse the Pell for a payment period until the student has completed
50% of the lessons or completes 50% of the work for the term,
whichever is later.

Residential training
If the correspondence program has a required period of
residential training, the school must treat the residential training as an
additional payment period and determine the payment for that
payment period using either Formula 3 or Formula 4. Note that the
correspondence portion of the program is still treated as a separate
portion of the program that’s divided into two equal payment periods.

3–40
 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant

Step 4: Determine Payment Periods

Formula 1, 2, and 3
Payment period is the academic term
Formula 4
Length of payment period measured in credit or clock hours
Minimum of 2 equal payment periods required for programs shorter than an
academic year, or 2 equal payment periods in each full academic year (or final
portion longer than half an academic year) for programs longer than or equal
to an academic year.
Formula 5A
Length of payment period measured in credit hours
First payment period is the period of time in which the student completes the
lesser of the first half of the academic year or the first half of the program. (First
payment may be made only after the student has completed 25% of lessons
or otherwise completed 25% of the work scheduled, whichever comes last.)
Second payment period is the period of time in which the student completes
the lesser of the second half of the academic year or the second half of the
program. (Second payment may be made only after the student has submitted
75% of lessons or otherwise completed 75% of the work scheduled, whichever
comes last.)
Formula 5B
Payment period is the academic term
Payment for the payment period may be made only after the student has
completed 50% of lessons or otherwise completed 50% of the work
scheduled for the term, whichever comes last.

CALCULATING THE PAYMENT FOR A PAYMENT PERIOD

Once the school has determined the payment period, it can
determine how much of the annual award the student will receive for
Formula 1 Calculation Cite
that payment period. A student can receive a Pell payment only for 34 CFR 690.63(b)(3), (4)
those terms, or payment periods, in which the student is enrolled. For
some students, the total disbursements for all payment periods within
the award year will equal the amount of the Scheduled Award.
However, students who attend for less than an academic year (in either Formula 1 Example
clock/credit hours or weeks of instructional time) won’t receive a full Helen enrolls full time in Hart University
in a degree program offered in semesters.
Scheduled Award. This may occur if the student enrolls for only part
Hart University can use Formula 1 to
of the year, attends part time, or if the program is less than an calculate Pells for students in this program.
academic year in length. These enrollment variations are taken into Helen enrolls in both semesters in the
account in the calculation of the student’s payment for the payment 2000-2001 award year, and her EFC is
period. The five calculation formulas discussed in this chapter account 752. The Pell COA is $8,170.
for these variations differently; therefore, we’ll describe the calculation
for each formula separately (see “Choosing a Formula,” in this Based on a COA of $8,170 and an EFC
chapter for more information on which formula to use). of 752, the full-time Payment Schedule
shows that Helen is eligible for an annual
Formula 1 award of $2,550.
For a program using Formula 1, a student will attend less than an
academic year only if he or she enrolls part time or doesn’t enroll in To calculate Helen’s payment for the
semester, Hart divides the annual award
all terms in the academic year. The adjustment for part-time
by the number of terms:
enrollment is made in determining the annual award (by using the
appropriate part-time Disbursement Schedules). The adjustment for a $2,550 ÷ 2 = $1,275
student not enrolling in all terms is made by dividing the annual award
evenly between the terms. If the student doesn’t enroll in a term, he or Therefore, Helen’s payment for each
she won’t receive that part of the award. Therefore, to determine the semester is $1,275; she’ll receive the full
payment for a payment period, divide the annual award by the annual award of $2,550 if she actually
number of payment periods in the program’s definition of the attends full time both semesters.

3–41
Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001
Formula 2 Calculation Cite academic year (two for semesters or trimesters, three for quarters). If
34 CFR 690.63(c)(3), (4) the school has a summer term, it may wish to use an alternate
calculation that spreads the award over the summer term as well (see
“Summer Terms,” in this chapter for more information).
Formula 2 Example
Emma enrolls full time in Woodhouse Formula 2
College, which has two semesters of 14 For a program using Formula 2, a student will attend less than an
weeks each. Woodhouse College defines the academic year in credit hours only if he or she enrolls part time or
academic year for Emma’s program as 24 doesn’t enroll in all terms (fall through spring) in the academic year.
semester hours and 30 weeks of As for Formula 1, the adjustment for part-time enrollment is made in
instructional time, and uses Formula 2 to
determining the annual award (by looking up the award on the
calculate Pells for students in this program.
Emma’s EFC is 745, and the Pell COA for
appropriate schedule). Because the fall through spring terms provide
the program is $13,210. The full-time fewer than 30 weeks of instructional time, the school must always
Payment Schedule shows that Emma is adjust for less than an academic year in weeks by prorating the annual
eligible for an annual award of $2,550. award:
weeks of instructional time in
Because the two terms provide less than fall through spring terms
30 weeks of instructional time, the Annual award X
weeks of instructional time in program’s
annual award must be prorated: academic year definition
28 weeks instructional time in fall
through spring terms Then, to adjust for students not attending all terms, the award is
$2,550 X 30 weeks instructional time in divided evenly between terms. To determine the payment for one
academic year of definition payment period, divide the prorated annual award by the number of
terms in the year (two for semesters or trimesters, three for quarters).
= $2,380
If the school has a summer term, it can use the alternate calculation to
This prorated amount is then divided by
distribute the award over all terms (see “Summer Terms,” in this
the number of terms: chapter).

$2,380 ÷ 2 = $1,190 Formula 3

Under Formula 3, the school also adjusts for less than an academic
Therefore, Emma’s payment for the each year by using enrollment status in determining the annual award and
semester is $1,190. Emma will receive by distributing the award over terms. Because the program may use
$2,380 for her attendance in both uneven nonstandard terms, the award can’t simply be divided evenly
semesters. Note that this is less than her among the terms. Instead, the school must multiply the annual award
Scheduled Award; she may be able to receive by a fraction representing the proportion of an academic year the
the remaining $170 if she enrolls in a payment period contains. This procedure adjusts for the period of
summer term.
enrollment that’s less than an academic year either because the
student misses a term or because the terms provide less than an
academic year of instruction. To calculate a student’s payment for a
Formula 3 Calculation Cite payment period, the school uses the following formula:
34 CFR 690.63(d)(3), (4)
weeks of instructional time in the term
Annual award X weeks of instructional time in program’s
Disbursement not more than 50% academic year definition
of Annual Award Cite
34 CFR 690.63(f) If the resulting amount is more than 50% of the annual award, the
school must make the payment in at least two disbursements in that
payment period. A single disbursement for a payment period can
Fractions never be more than 50% of the annual award. The school may not
Remember when using fractions, multiply disburse an amount that exceeds 50% of the annual award until the
first, and then divide. Dividing the student has completed the period of time in the payment period
fraction first to produce a decimal can that equals, in terms of weeks of instructional time, 50% of the
cause an error if you need to round the weeks of instructional time in the program’s academic year
decimal up or down. definition.
3–42
 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant
Formula 3 Examples
Anner is enrolled half time in the first 8-week term at Bylsma Conservatory and full
time in the remaining three terms. Bylsma defines the academic year for Anner’s program
as 40 quarter hours and 32 weeks of instructional time, and uses Formula 3 to
calculate Pells. Anner’s EFC is 323, and the Pell COA for the program is $11,140.

For the first term, the half-time Disbursement Schedule shows that Anner is eligible for an
annual award of $1,475. To determine Anner’s payment for the first payment period,
the school uses the following calculation:

8 weeks instructional time in the term

$1,475 X = $368.75
32 weeks instructional time in the academic year

Anner’s payment for the first payment period will be $368.75.

For the remaining terms, the full-time Payment Schedule shows that Anner is eligible for
an annual award of $2,950. To determine Anner’s payment, Bylsma uses the following
calculation:

8 weeks instructional time in the term

$2,950 X = $737.50
32 weeks instructional time in the academic year

Anner’s payment for each of the remaining three terms will be $737.50.

Owen is enrolled in the education program at Hart University that has a short 4-week
term between two 15-week terms. His enrollment status is half-time for the first and third
terms and full-time for the second term. The academic year for the program is defined as
34 weeks of instructional time and 24 semester hours. Hart uses Formula 3 to calculate
Pells for students in this program. Owen’s EFC is 1,214, and the Pell COA for the
program is $8,745.

For the first and third terms, the half-time Disbursement Schedule shows that Owen is
eligible for an annual award of $1,025. To determine Owen’s payment for these two
terms, the school uses the following calculation:

15 weeks instructional time in the term

$1,025 X = $452.21
34 weeks instructional time in the academic year

Owen’s payment for each of the first and third terms will be $452.21.

For the second term, Owen has an annual award of $2,050 (from the full-time Payment
Schedule). Note that this is the same as his Scheduled Award. To determine his payment
for the term, Hart uses this calculation:

4 weeks instructional time in the term

$2,050 X = $241.18
34 weeks instructional time in the academic year

Owen’s payment for the second payment period will be $241.18. He’ll receive $1,145.60
for the entire year. This is less than his Scheduled Award, but more than the annual
award based on half-time enrollment.

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Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001
Formula 3 Combined Term Example
Eddy is enrolled in a program to which Hart University has recently added four 8-week
terms. Two 8-week terms are combined to create two combined semesters providing 16
weeks of instructional time each.

8 wks 8 wks 8 wks 8 wks

Term 1 Term 2
15 wks 15 wks

Hart uses the same definition of academic year for the program that it used before
adding the 8-week terms: 30 weeks of instructional time and 24 semester hours. Because
the terms overlap, Hart uses Formula 3 to calculate payments for students in the
program.

Eddy is enrolled three-quarter time in the first term and full time in the second term. His
EFC is 0, and the Pell COA for the program is $8,170. The three-quarter-time
Disbursement Schedule shows that Eddy is eligible for an annual award of $2,475. His
Scheduled Award is $3,300. To determine Eddy’s payments for the first term, Hart uses
the following calculation:

16 weeks instructional time in the term

$2,475 X = $1,320
30 weeks instructional time in the academic year

Eddy will get $1,320 for the first term. For the second term, the full-time Payment
Schedule shows that Eddy’s annual award is $3,300. Hart calculates the payment for
this second term as follows:

16 weeks instructional time in the term

$3,300 X = $1,760
30 weeks instructional time in the academic year

Eddy will get $1,760 for the second term. His total Pell for the year will be $3,080,
which is less than the Scheduled Award. Note that if Eddy enrolled full-time in both
terms, his second payment would need to be reduced so that he wouldn’t receive more
than his Scheduled Award.

Formula 4
Unlike under the preceding three formulas, no adjustment for
enrollment status is made in determining the annual award under
Formula 4. Instead, the school has to perform a comparable proration
of the award based on hours enrolled in calculating the payment
amount. The calculation for the payment period adjusts the annual
award both if the student will be enrolled in fewer credit/clock hours
than in a full academic year (an adjustment mainly handled by using
different Disbursement Schedules in the other formulas) and if a full-
time student would be attending fewer weeks than a full academic year.
To adjust for fewer weeks, the school must multiply the annual award
by the lesser of:

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 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant
Formula 4 Calculation Cite 1
34 CFR 690.63(e)(2)
Weeks of instructional time for a full-time student
to complete hours in program
Weeks of instructional time in program’s academic
year definition Formula 4 Calculation Cite 2
34 CFR 690.63(e)(3)

or

Weeks of instructional time for a full-time student

to complete hours in academic year
Weeks of instructional time in program’s academic
year definition

or

16

Note that the result of this multiplication won’t ever be greater

than the original annual award. Because the annual award is the
amount for a full-time student, the fractions use the weeks of
instructional time needed for a full-time student to complete the hours
in the program or academic year. The school must determine the
weeks of instructional time it takes a full-time student to complete the
hours based on the time required for the majority of its full-time
students to complete the program or academic year, not student by
student.

Then, to adjust for fewer clock/credit hours, the school must

multiply this adjusted annual award by the following fraction:

Clock/credit hours in payment period

Clock/credit hours in program’s academic year definition

The resulting amount is the payment for a payment period.

However, if this amount is greater than 50% of the annual award, the
school must make the payment in at least two disbursements. A single
disbursement can never be more than 50% of the annual award.

Formula 5
For nonterm correspondence programs, this step of the
calculation is similar to the step under Formula 4. For term
correspondence programs, this step is the same as under Formula 3.

For purposes of the Pell calculation, the school is required to

determine the number of weeks of instructional time in the program Schedule Requirement Cite
34 CFR 690.66(a)(2), (c)(1)
by preparing a written schedule for the lessons that the student will
submit. A nonterm correspondence program must require at least 12
hours of preparation per week. A term correspondence program must
require 30 hours of preparation per semester hour or 20 hours of
preparation per quarter hour during the term.

6. If both fractions are greater than one, the school may need to make adjustments when it reports weeks on the origination record. See Chapter 3.

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Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001
Formula 4 Examples
Martha is enrolled for 10 clock hours per week in a 650-clock-hour program at Sarven
Technical Institute. She begins attending in January 2001. The program provides 27
weeks of instructional time; Sarven defines the academic year for the program as 30
weeks of instructional time and 900 clock hours. Martha’s EFC is 0; the Pell COA for
less-than-half-time students in the program is $2,143.

Based on a COA of $2,143 and an EFC of 0, the full-time Payment Schedule shows
that Martha is eligible for an annual award of $2,150. Sarven has established 4
payment periods—the first three are each 163 clock hours, the fourth is 161 clock hours.
To calculate Martha’s payment, the school uses the following calculations:

27 weeks instructional time for program

$2,150 X = $1,935
30 weeks instructional time in the academic year

163 clock hours in the payment period

$1,935 X = $350.45
900 clock hours in the academic year

Martha’s payment for the first payment period will be $350.45. She can get this
payment when she begins the program. She can receive her second payment of $350.45
after she completes the 163 clock hours in the first payment period. Because she’s
completing only 10 clock hours a week, the final two payment periods will be in the
2001-2002 award year, and a new calculation will be required based on the 2001-2002
Payment Schedule.

Allen is also enrolled at Sarven Technical Institute; his EFC is 137, and the Pell COA
for his program is $4,650. His program is 24 quarter hours and 20 weeks of
instructional time; the academic year for the program is defined as 36 quarter hours and
30 weeks of instructional time. Based on a COA of $4,650 and an EFC of 137, the
full-time Payment Schedule shows that Allen is eligible for an annual award of $3,150.

Sarven has established two payment periods of 12 quarter hours each for Allen’s
program. To calculate Allen’s payment, the school uses the following calculations:

20 weeks instructional time for program

$3,150 X = $2,100
30 weeks instructional time in the academic year

12 quarter hours in the payment period

$2,100 X = $700
36 quarter hours in the academic year

Allen’s payment for the first payment period will be $700. Allen can receive this payment
when he begins the program. Because students don’t earn any of the 24 quarter hours in
the program until they complete the entire program, Sarven has determined that it can
make the payment of $700 for the second payment period after Allen is completed the
tenth calendar week of the program.

Nonterm correspondence program—Formula 5A

The school first multiplies the annual award (determined from the
half-time Disbursement Schedule, in this case) by the lesser of:

Weeks of instructional time for a student to

complete credit hours in program
Weeks of instructional time in program’s academic year definition

or

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 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant

Weeks of instructional time for a student to Nonterm Program Calculation

complete credit hours in academic year Cite 1
Weeks of instructional time in program’s academic year definition 34 CFR 690.66(a)(3)

or
Nonterm Program Calculation
1 Cite 2
34 CFR 690.66(a)(4)
The school then multiplies the result by the following fraction:

Credit hours in payment period

Credit hours in academic year definition

Term correspondence program—Formula 5B

The school multiplies the annual award (taken from the half-time Term Program Calculation Cite
or less-than-half-time Disbursement Schedule) by the weeks in the 34 CFR 690.66(c)(3)
term divided by the weeks in the academic year:

weeks of instructional time in the term

Annual award X
weeks of instructional time in program’s
academic year definition

If the resulting amount is more than 50% of the annual award, the
school must make the payment in at least two disbursements in that
payment period. The school may not disburse an amount that exceeds
50% of the annual award until the student has completed the period
of time in the payment period that equals, in terms of weeks of
instructional time, 50% of the weeks of instructional time in the
program’s academic year definition. A single disbursement for a
payment period can never be more than 50% of the annual award.

SUMMER TERMS
If a school offers a summer term in addition to fall through spring
terms, the school calculates the student’s payment for the summer
term by using the same formula used to calculate the payment for
each term within the school’s award year. Or, for a program for which
the school calculates awards using Formula 1 or 2, the school can
perform an alternate calculation under Formula 1 or 2 that distributes
the annual award over all the terms for all students enrolled in that
program. The alternate calculation is intended for schools where most
students attend full-time all year long.

Regardless of the method the school chooses to calculate the

student’s summer payment, the school must apply its definition of full-
time status consistently to all SFA Programs. In addition, in order to
calculate a student’s Pell under Formula 1 or 2, including the
alternate calculation, the school must define full-time enrollment
during any summer term as at least 12 credit hours.

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Step 5: Calculate Payment for a Payment Period

Formula 1
Annual award
Number of payment periods in the program’s academic year definition
OR
For alternate calculation
Annual award
Number of terms in the award year
Formula 2
Proration required unless alternate calculation is used
Weeks of instructional time in 2 (if semesters
Annual
award X
fall through spring terms
Weeks of instructional time in ÷ or trimesters)
OR
3 (if quarters)
program’s academic year definition
OR
For alternate calculation
Annual award
Number of terms in the award year
Formula 3 and 5B
Annual Weeks of instructional time in the term
award X Weeks of instructional time in
program’s academic year definition
A single disbursement can’t exceed 50% of the annual award
Formula 4
Annual award is multiplied by two fractions:
(1) Annual award x the lesser of
Weeks of instructional time for a full-time
student to complete hours in program
Weeks of instructional time in program’s academic year definition
OR
Weeks of instructional time for a full-time
student to complete hours in academic year
Weeks of instructional time in program’s academic year definition
OR
One(1)

(2) the results of (1) are then multiplied by

Clock/credit hours in payment period
Clock/credit hours in program’s academic year definition
A single disbursement can’t exceed 50% of the annual award
Formula 5A
Annual award is multiplied by two fractions:
(1) Annual award x the lesser of
Weeks of instructional time for a student
to complete credit hours in program
Weeks of instructional time in program’s academic year definition
OR
Weeks of instructional time for a student
to complete credit hours in academic year
Weeks of instructional time in program’s academic year definition
OR
One (1)
(2) the results of (1) are then multiplied by
Credit hours in payment period
Credit hours in program’s academic year definition
A single disbursement can’t exceed 50% of the annual award
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 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant

Alternate Calculation Alternate Calculation Cite

To perform the alternate calculation, only provided for under 34 CFR 690.63(b)(3)(ii), (c)(4)(ii)
Formulas 1 and 2, the school divides the annual award by the number
of terms (including the summer term) in the award year. If the school
chooses to use this alternate calculation, the school must: Alternate Calculation Example
Kevin enrolls as a full-time student in a
• use the alternate calculation for all students enrolled in the two-year associate degree program at Ivers
same program of study, Community College. The academic
calendar for this program uses semesters;
• use the alternate calculation for all payment periods in the there are two semesters in the fall through
spring, each providing 14 weeks of
award year,
instructional time. The program also has a
summer semester that provides 14 weeks of
• increase the number of weeks of instructional time in the instructional time. Ivers can use Formula
academic year defined for the student’s program to include the 2 to calculate Pells for students in the
number of weeks in the summer term, and program, and decides to use the alternate
calculation to distribute the award over all
• include the costs for the additional term in the Pell COA. three terms. The school defines the academic
year for Kevin’s program as 36 semester
The school may also include the number of credit hours for the hours and 42 weeks of instructional time
additional term in the academic year defined for the student’s (both the weeks and the credit hours for the
program. summer term are included in the academic
year). Kevin’s EFC is 300, and the Pell
COA (which includes costs for the summer
Summer Minisessions
quarter) is $5,200.
If a term-based school offers a series of minisessions that overlap
two award years (by “crossing over” the June 30 end date for one Based on a COA of $5,200 and an EFC
award year), these minisessions may be combined and treated as of 300, the full-time Payment Schedule
one term. However, schools are not required to combine these shows that Kevin is eligible for an annual
minisessions. award of $3,050. Ivers uses the alternate
calculation to determine Kevin’s payment
If the minisessions are combined into a single term (i.e. for a payment period. It divides the annual
payment period), the weeks of instructional time in the combined award by the number of terms in the award
term are the weeks from the beginning of the first minisession to year:
the date the last minisession ends. The student’s enrollment status
for the entire payment period must be calculated based on the total $3,050 ÷ 3 = $1,016.66
number of credits the student is projected to take for all sessions.
Kevin will receive $1,016.67 for two of the
The school must project the enrollment status for a student on the
three semesters in the year, and $1,016.66
basis of the credits the student has: for one semester in the award year.

• pre-registered or registered to take for all sessions,

• committed to take for all sessions in an academic plan or

enrollment contract, or

• committed to take for all sessions in some other document.

When the minisessions are combined into a single term, a student

cannot be paid more than the amount for one payment period for
completing any combination of the minisessions. Note that
recalculation is required if the student does not begin attending the
projected classes, including those in a subsequent minisession. (See
“Change in Enrollment Status” in Chapter 5 of this volume.)

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Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001
Summer Calculation Example
Suppose for the preceding example, Ivers didn’t use the alternate calculation, and
calculated payments using Formula 2. Because Ivers would no longer be required to
include the summer term in the academic year definition, it could define the academic
year for the program as 30 weeks of instructional time and 24 semester hours. Ivers
would also have to adjust the COA (to remove summer costs), although in this case it
wouldn’t affect Kevin’s annual award. Using the same annual award as in the
previous example, the school would calculate Kevin’s payment as follows:

28 weeks instructional time in

fall through spring terms
$1,525 X 30 weeks instructional time in = $1,423.33
academic year definition

Ivers would then divide this prorated annual award by 2 (because the program uses
semesters) to determine Kevin’s payment for the payment period:

$1,423.33 ÷ 2 = $711.67

Kevin would receive $711.67 for each of the fall and spring semesters. He’d receive an
additional $711.67 payment for the summer semester. Under this calculation, Kevin
will receive a total of $2,135.01 for the award year. His Scheduled Award is $3,050, so
he won’t receive more than a Scheduled Award.

If the minisessions are not combined into a single payment

period, the school must treat each minisession as a separate
nonstandard term. As long as the school defines full-time
enrollment in each minisession as at least 12 credit hours, the
school must continue to use the same Pell formula as it used during
the academic year for the Pell Grant calculations for each of those
minisessions. If the school does not define full-time enrollment in
each minisession as at least 12 credit hours, the Formula 3 must be
used for the Pell Grant calculations for each of those minisessions.
Further, once a program uses Formula 3 for Pell Grant calculations
in any of its terms in an award year, then Formula 3 must be used in
the award year for all terms in that program, including the fall
through spring terms.

COA for Summer Terms

Costs for summer terms are figured in the same way as for any
other payment period; that is, the costs are based on a full academic
year. For instance, if the school has fall and spring semesters that
comprise an academic year, the school can’t add the costs for the
summer term to the costs for the fall and spring semesters. The award
for the summer term is still based on the costs for one academic year.
However, if the academic year definition includes the summer term,
then the costs for the summer term must be included in the cost for a
full academic year.

If the student was previously enrolled in the award year, the school
may be able to use the same COA for the summer term that it used for
the immediately preceding term the student attended. However, this
isn’t possible if the school is required to recalculate the COA. (See
Chapter 5 of this volume for information on when recalculations are
required.) If it’s necessary to base the student’s COA on the summer

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 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant
Minisession Example
Brian enrolls part time at Hildebrand University. In addition to fall and spring
semesters, Hildebrand University offers three summer minisessions. Each minisession
provides 5 weeks of instructional time. Hildebrand chooses to combine the sessions into a
single payment period providing 15 weeks of instructional time. Full-time enrollment in
this period is defined as 12 semester hours. Hildebrand can use Formula 1 to calculate
payments for this summer session.

Brian enrolls for 3 semester hours in each of the minisessions, so he’s enrolled three-quarter
time (9 hours total in the combined term). His EFC is 772 and the Pell COA is $8,170.
Based on a COA of $8,170 and an EFC of 772, the three-quarter-time Disbursement
Schedule shows that Brian is eligible for an annual award of $1,913. To calculate
Brian’s payment, the school divides the annual award by the number of terms in the
academic year:

$1,913 ÷ 2 = $956.50

Brian can receive $956.50 for the combined summer session if it’s the first term of the
award year. If he received payments for the fall and spring semesters from the same award
year, the school would need to check his remaining eligibility to see how much he could be
paid for the summer session (see “Checking Remaining Eligibility”).

If Hildebrand University didn’t combine the three minisessions, it would have to calculate
payments for the program using Formula 3 (assuming it didn’t want to increase the full-
time enrollment requirement to 12 credits in each 5-week term). Hildebrand would have to
determine Brian’s enrollment status for each minisession by multiplying full-time
enrollment for the academic year (24 semester hours) by the number of weeks of
instructional time in the term (5) over the number of weeks in the academic year (30). For
the 5-week terms, a full-time student must enroll in 4 semester hours to be full time;
therefore, Brian is still enrolled three-quarter time in each minisession. The COA wouldn’t
have to be adjusted, and his annual award would remain the same. Hildebrand would
determine his payment using the following calculation:

5 weeks instructional time in the term

$1,913 X = $318.83
30 weeks instructional time in the academic year

Brian would receive $318.83 for each of the minisessions, for a total of $956.49 for the
summer. Again, these payments may need to be reduced if Brian had previously received
payments for the fall and spring semester in this award year.

term, the school must prorate the summer costs to establish the cost
for an academic year. (See “Calculating the Cost of Attendance” in this
chapter for information on prorating costs.)

If the summer session is the first term in the award year for that
student (for example, the school is paying a student for the summer
2000 term from the 2000-2001 award year), the school must establish
the student’s full-year cost based on the costs for the summer term. If
the student enrolls in another term in that award year, the school may
have to recalculate the student’s costs for the later term (see
Chapter 5.)

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Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001

Crossover Payment Period Example

At a school with a traditional term calendar, the summer term is usually a crossover payment period.

Semesters for
2000-2001
academic year Fall Spring Summer

Award Years 2000- 2001-

2001 2002

July 1, 2000 January 1, 2001 July 1,2001 January 1, 2002 July 1, 2002

Scheduled Award Limitation Cite CHECKING REMAINING ELIGIBILITY

34 CFR 690.63(g) A student can never receive more than a Scheduled Award in one
award year.7 In most cases, the calculations assure that a student
doesn’t receive more than a Scheduled Award, but for some students,
Checking Remaining Eligibility the school will need to check the student’s remaining eligibility before
Example paying the student. In particular, if the student is attending more than
Eddy’s enrolled at Hart University. The an academic year’s worth of courses in the same award year, the
program he’s enrolled in has two 16-week student could run out of eligibility for Pell. This most commonly
semesters during the award year, which happens with summer terms, or crossover payment periods, but can
means he’ll attend for 32 weeks. However, also happen if the academic year is shorter than the normal
the academic year has only 30 weeks. Eddy
coursework offered by the school during the year. The school must
originally planned to enroll three-quarter
time in the first semester, and full time in
also check remaining eligibility for transfer students, because the
the second. Using Formula 3, Hart previous school may have used a different calculation or paid the
determined that he’d receive $1,320 for the student on a different schedule.
first semester and $1,760 for the second.
His Scheduled Award is $3,300. Crossover Payment Periods
Payment periods don’t always fall neatly into one award year or
Eddy adds classes so he’s actually enrolled another. When a payment period falls into two award years, it’s called a
full time in the first semester. Therefore, “crossover payment period.”
Hart pays him $1,760 for the first
semester, instead of $1,320. If Hart paid The basic calculation for a crossover payment period is the same as
him $1,760 for the second semester, which that for any other payment period. However, there are additional
is the amount calculated by Formula 3,
provisions for some summer terms. (See “Summer Terms” in this
Eddy would receive $3,520 for the full
year, which is more than his Scheduled
chapter.) In addition, if a student has already received payments for
Award. Hart can only pay him $1,540 for other payment periods in the award year, the school must check his or
the second term, which is the difference her remaining eligibility before disbursing funds for the crossover
between his Scheduled Award and the payment period.
amount he’s already received for the year.
Payment from either award year
The school can make a payment for a crossover payment period
Crossover Payment Period Cite out of either award year, if the student has a valid output document for
34 CFR 690.64 the award year selected. However, if more than six months of the
payment period is in a given award year, the Pell payment must be
made from that award year.

7. As mentioned in the Introduction, the provision allowing students to receive a second Scheduled Award in most cases isn’t funded.
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 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant
The decision about which award year to use is usually based on the Crossover Payment Period
student’s remaining eligibility in the earlier award year. For instance, if Checking Remaining Eligibility
a student had already been paid for two semesters (each at least 15 Example
weeks) as a full-time student for a full academic year in the 1999-2000 Brian is attending part time at
award year, the student would have been paid a full Scheduled Award Hildebrand University. Using Formula 1,
for that year. However, if the school receives a valid output document Hildebrand determines that Brian can
for the 2000-2001 award year, the student could be paid for the receive $956.50 for each term. His
crossover period from that year’s funds. Of course, a student may still Scheduled Award is $2,550.
be eligible for a summer payment from the earlier award year if the
Brian enrolls three-quarter time in the fall,
student hasn’t attended for a full academic year. For example, a spring, and summer terms. For the fall
student who enrolls at midyear, in the spring session, might still have and spring semesters, he’ll receive a total of
eligibility remaining for the summer term. As another example, a $1,913. If Hildebrand wants to pay him
student could receive a Pell payment for the summer term, even after for summer from the 2000-2001 award
receiving payments for the other terms in the award year, if the student year as well, it needs to see how much
attended part time in those other terms, or if those terms provided less eligibility he has left. Subtracting the
than 30 weeks of instructional time. amount already received from the
Scheduled Award, Hildebrand discovers
Transfer Students that Brian only has $637 of Pell eligibility
The school must be careful not to exceed the Scheduled Award left. Therefore, Brian can only receive
when paying a student who has previously received a Pell for the award $637, instead of $956.50, for the summer
term. Hildebrand could also decide to pay
year at another school. To pay such a student, the school needs the
Brian for the summer from the 2001-2002
student’s application information and EFC from an output document award year.
and financial aid history information.

Application information
There are three ways for a school to get the student’s application
information and official EFC if that school wasn’t listed on the FAFSA:

1. If the school participates in EDE, it can have the student

provide the Data Release Number (DRN) that’s printed on the
upper right corner of the SAR, so that the school can get the
student’s data electronically.

2. The school can have the student request a duplicate of his or

her original SAR and submit it.

3. The school can have the student correct his or her SAR to add
the school’s name to the list of schools in items 88 through 98.

Financial aid history

The student’s financial aid history is in the NSLDS Financial Aid
History section of the output document; this section has the
information needed to determine a transfer student’s remaining Pell
eligibility. However, the school will need to make sure it has current
information for a midyear transfer student (see “Midyear transfer”
below). The school can also get a financial aid history by requesting a
financial aid transcript from the other eligible schools the student
attended. (See the SFA Handbook: Student Eligibility [Volume 1] for more
on the financial aid history in general.)

Midyear transfer
To calculate awards for students who transfer during the award
year, the school must have up-to-date information on the student’s

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Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001
Scheduled Award and the amount disbursed. The output document
provides this information for up to three disbursements. However, if
the output document was produced early in the year, it won’t have the
most recent information on the student. The school needs to have
NSLDS data from at least 60 days after the end of the student’s
enrollment at the previous school. This allows time for the previous
school to report final changes to RFMS and for those changes to be
sent on to NSLDS. A school can either request a duplicate output
document, which will have updated NSLDS information if any is
available, or can check NSLDS online.

The school can also request a Multiple Reporting Record (MRR),

which has information on planned and actual disbursements by other
schools (see Chapter 3 for information on MRRs). Once again, the
school will need to allow some time for any previous schools to have
submitted reports. Like the output document and NSLDS, an MRR
has all the information needed to check the student’s remaining
eligibility, but it also has additional information about expected
disbursements.

A school can make an initial disbursement to midyear transfer

students before receiving the final data as it would to students for
which it had requested but not received a financial aid transcript.
Alternatively, the school can request up-to-date transcript data from
the previous school. The school can ask the previous school for just
the information on the current year and use NSLDS for the remaining
financial aid history. (See the SFA Handbook: Student Eligibility [Volume
1] for more on NSLDS.)

Calculating the payment

The Pell payment for a transfer student is calculated in the same
way as for any new student. That is, the school must divide the annual
award (prorated if necessary) into payments for each payment period.
However, before paying a transfer student, the school must also make
sure the student doesn’t receive more than 100% of his or her
Scheduled Award during the award year. Thus the school must
determine what percentage of the Scheduled Award at the previous
school the student actually received. Because the school is determining
the relationship between the amount the student received and the
Scheduled Award used to determine that amount, the school must use
the Scheduled Award reported by the previous school in determining
this percentage, and can’t correct it on the basis of its own records.

Figuring the percentage of remaining eligibility

To determine the percentage of remaining eligibility, divide the
amount disbursed at the previous school by the student’s Scheduled
Award at that school. Then subtract this percentage from 100%. The
result is the maximum percentage of the Scheduled Award that the
student may receive at the new school.

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Formula Summaries
Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant
The reason for using percentages is that a transfer student may
have different Scheduled Awards because, for example, the costs of
attendance at the two schools may be different. The percentages are
used to compare the portions of a student’s total eligibility that have
been used at both schools. (If the student’s Scheduled Award is the
same at both schools, the financial aid administrator can find the
amount of the student’s remaining eligibility simply by subtracting the
amount received at the first school from the Scheduled Award.)

Note that a transfer student receives the same payments as any

other student until the limit (100% of a Scheduled Award) is reached.
The school gives the student the full amount for each payment period,
rather than trying to ration the remaining amount by splitting it evenly
across the remaining terms.

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Formula 1 Summary
Standard-term, credit-hour programs, with 30 weeks of instructional time (or
waiver applies)
• Enrollment for at least 12 credit hours each term required for full-time status
• Program terms don’t overlap
• Academic calendar includes 2 semesters/trimesters (fall and spring) or 3
quarters (fall, winter, and spring)
• Fall through spring terms equal at least 30 weeks of instructional time, or at
least 26 weeks of instructional time if the program was granted a waiver of
the minimum 30-week academic year requirement

Step 1: Determine Enrollment Status

Full time, three-quarter time, half time, or less than half time
Step 2: Calculate Pell COA
Full time, full academic year costs
Step 3: Determine Annual Award
If the student’s enrollment status is full-time, the annual award is taken from the
full-time Payment Schedule (Scheduled Award). If the student’s enrollment status
is 3/4-time, 1/2-time, or less than 1/2-time, the annual award is taken from the
appropriate part-time Disbursement Schedule.
Step 4: Determine Payment Periods
Payment period is the academic term
Step 5: Calculate Payment for a Payment Period
Annual award
Number of payment periods in the program’s academic year definition

OR

For alternate calculation

Annual award
Number of terms in the award year

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 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant

Formula 2 Summary
Standard-term, credit-hour programs, with fewer than 30 weeks of instructional
time and waiver does not apply
• Enrollment for at least 12 credit hours each term required for full-time status
• Program terms don’t overlap
• Academic calendar includes 2 semesters/trimesters (fall and spring) or 3
quarters (fall, winter, and spring)
• Fall through spring terms are less than 30 weeks of instructional time and
the program wasn’t granted a waiver of the minimum 30-week academic year
requirement

Step 1: Determine Enrollment Status

Full time, three-quarter time, half time, or less than half time
Step 2: Calculate Pell COA
Full time, full academic year costs
Cost for fall through spring terms prorated. If fall through spring terms
provide the same number of credit hours as are in the academic year
definition, prorated COA is the same as nonprorated COA.
Step 3: Determine Annual Award
If the student’s enrollment status is full-time, the annual award is taken from the
full-time Payment Schedule (Scheduled Award). If the student’s enrollment status
is 3/4-time, 1/2-time, or less than 1/2-time, the annual award is taken from the
appropriate part-time Disbursement Schedule.
Step 4: Determine Payment Periods
Payment period is the academic term
Step 5: Calculate Payment for a Payment Period
Proration required unless alternate calculation is used
Weeks of instructional time in 2 (if semesters
Annual
award X
fall through spring terms
Weeks of instructional time in ÷ or trimesters)
OR
3 (if quarters)
program’s academic year definition
OR
For alternate calculation
Annual award
Number of terms in the award year

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Vol. 3 — Pell Grants, 2000-2001

Formula 3 Summary
Any term-based, credit-hour programs; may include those qualifying for Formulas
1 and 2

Step 1: Determine Enrollment Status

Full time, three-quarter time, half time, or less than half time
Step 2: Calculate Pell COA
Full time, full academic year costs
Cost for program or period not equal to academic year prorated. Two
fractions compared:
Hours in program’s definition of academic year
Hours to which the costs apply
Weeks of instructional time in program’s definition of academic year
Weeks of instructional time in the enrollment period to which
the costs apply
The entire cost is multiplied by the lesser of the two fractions to determine
Pell COA.
Step 3: Determine Annual Award
If the student’s enrollment status is full-time, the annual award is taken from the
full-time Payment Schedule (Scheduled Award). If the student’s enrollment status
is 3/4-time, 1/2-time, or less than 1/2-time, the annual award is taken from the
appropriate part-time Disbursement Schedule.
Step 4: Determine Payment Periods
Payment period is the academic term
Step 5: Calculate Payment for a Payment Period
Annual Weeks of instructional time in the term
award X Weeks of instructional time in
program’s academic year definition
A single disbursement can’t exceed 50% of the annual award

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 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant

Formula 4 Summary
Clock-hour programs and credit-hour programs without terms

Step 1: Determine Enrollment Status

At least half time or less than half time
Step 2: Calculate Pell COA
Full time, full academic year costs
Cost for program or period not equal to academic year prorated. Two
fractions compared:
Hours in program’s definition of academic year
Hours to which the costs apply
Weeks of instructional time in program’s definition of academic year
Weeks of instructional time in the enrollment period to which
the costs apply
The entire cost is multiplied by the lesser of the two fractions to determine
Pell COA.
Step 3: Determine Annual Award
Always taken from full-time Payment Schedule (equal to Scheduled Award)
Step 4: Determine Payment Periods
Length of payment period measured in credit or clock hours
Minimum of 2 equal payment periods required for programs shorter than an
academic year, or 2 equal payment periods in each full academic year (or final
portion longer than half an academic year) for programs longer than or equal
to an academic year.
Step 5: Calculate Payment for a Payment Period
Annual award is multiplied by two fractions:
(1) Annual award x the lesser of
Weeks of instructional time for a full-time
student to complete hours in program
Weeks of instructional time in program’s academic year definition
OR
Weeks of instructional time for a full-time
student to complete hours in academic year
Weeks of instructional time in program’s academic year definition
OR
One(1)

(2) the results of (1) are then multiplied by

Clock/credit hours in payment period
Clock/credit hours in program’s academic year definition
A single disbursement can’t exceed 50% of the annual award

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Formula 5A Summary
Programs of study by correspondence, nonterm correspondence component.
The written schedule for the submission of lessons must reflect a workload of at least
12 hours of preparation per week of instructional time.

Step 1: Determine Enrollment Status

Enrollment status is never more than half time
Step 2: Calculate Pell COA
Full time, full academic year costs (for applicable components)
Cost for program or enrollment period not equal to academic year prorated
according to the following formula:
For tuition and fees:
Costs X Credit hours in program’s definition of academic year
Credit hours to which costs the apply
Step 3: Determine Annual Award
Annual award taken from half-time Disbursement Schedule
Step 4: Determine Payment Periods
Length of payment period measured in credit hours
First payment period is the period of time in which the student completes
the lesser of the first half of the academic year or the first half of the program.
(First payment may be made only after the student has completed 25% of
lessons or otherwise completed 25% of the work scheduled, whichever
comes last.)
Second payment period is the period of time in which the student completes
the lesser of the second half of the academic year or the second half of the
program. (Second payment may be made only after the student has
submitted 75% of lessons or otherwise completed 75% of the work
scheduled, whichever comes last.).
Step 5: Calculate Payment for a Payment Period
Annual award is multiplied by two fractions:

1) Annual award x the lessor of

Weeks of instructional time for student to complete credit hours in program

Weeks of instructional time in program’s academic year definition
OR
Weeks of instructional time for a student to complete
credit hours in academic year
Weeks of instructional time in program’s academic year definition
OR
One(1)

(2) the results of (1) are then multiplied by

Credit hours in payment period
Credit hours in program’s academic year definition

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 Ch. 2 — Calculating the Federal Pell Grant

Formula 5B Summary
Programs of study by correspondence, term-based correspondence component
During each term, the written schedule for the submission of lessons must reflect
a workload of at least 30 hours of preparation per semester hour or at least 20
hours of preparation per quarter hour

Step 1: Determine Enrollment Status

Enrollment status can only be half time or less than half time
Step 2: Calculate Pell COA
Full time, full academic year costs (for applicable components)
Cost for program or period not equal to academic year prorated according to
the following formula:
For tuition and fees:
Credit hours in program’s academic year definition
Costs X
Credit hours to which the costs apply
Step 3: Determine Annual Award
Annual award taken from appropriate part-time Disbursement Schedule (half
time or less than half time)
Step 4: Determine Payment Periods
Payment period is the academic term
Payment for the payment period may be made only after the student has
completed 50% of lessons or otherwise completed 50% of the work
scheduled for the term, whichever comes last.
Step 5: Calculate Payment for a Payment Period
Annual Weeks of instructional time in the term
award X Weeks of instructional time in
program’s academic year definition
A single disbursement can’t exceed 50% of the annual award

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